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House Sundiata
Uradel (Freiherrlich) House Major Sundiata *Dignity: County *Sigil: Stylized symbol of man "Sundiata Cross" *Colors: Red and Gold (formal) Orange (informal) *Homeworld: Zabulon *Full Titles: Count of the Frieherrlich Uradel House Major Keita Sundiata, Siridar Zabulon, Siridar Elgomaisa, Siridar Alioth, Defender of the Great Book, Chevalier of the Empire. *Current Holder (10,202 AG): Count Arthur Keita Sundiata/na-Countess Fulani Keita Sundiata History The House Sundiata can trace its history back to before the Battle of Corrin. The Sundiata Counts claim the royal house of the ancient Earth empire of Mali as their ancestors but the first verifiable mention of their ancestors is a note in one of the few surviving chronicles from the Butlerian Jihad which makes note of a "Praefect Nyati Keita" head of the planetary garrison on the planet Orimiri, who took control of the government after the previous regime, which had relied heavily on thinking machines to administer the planet, had fallen in the wake of the Jihad. This is estimated at being from late in the Jihad, perhaps circa 110-120 BG. The next mention of Nyati Keita is in 101 BG as "Lord Nyati Sundiata Keita of Farther Orimir", recognized as planetary ruler by the powers of the Landsraad, who used his position to offer sanctuary to the legendary "Thirteenth Sage" Zabulon Vyne, who, like all the Fourteen CET delegates who would not recant forming the Orange Catholic Bible, was on the run. Lord Nyati took in the renegade theologian and Orimiri became one of the first planets to accept the Orange Catholic Bible as a sacred text. By 88 BG, Lord Nyati had defected from the Landsraad and thrown in his lot with the emerging forces of the Sardaukar, the seemingly unstoppable warriors of the warlord of the ruined world of Salusa Secundus, who would later become the First Padishah Emperor of the House Corrino. His aid at the Battle of Corrin earned him the title 'Siridar' not only over Orimiri, but over several other worlds that had belonged to defeated houses that had opposed the newly-minted Corrinos, these included the mineral-rich but inhospitable worlds of the Al Shira system: Puana, Elgomaisa and Maera. Count Nyati's son, Kalabi Keita Sundiata, married the sole daughter and heir of the House Menelik and subsumed the Menelik home system into the growing domain of the Sundiata. The first great test of the dynasty's strength came in the 2340's AG when "The War of the Hundred Daughters" threatened to tear the house apart, a succession crisis that resulted after the death of Count Mamadi. Emperor Hushan II was forced to step in with the Sardaukar to settle the fight. The distaff line, the still ethnically-distinct Menelik were awarded Orimiri and given the dignity of Baron, while the various indirect-line Sundiata cousines were allowed to retain the name 'Keita Sundiata' and given the dignity of Viscount, as well as the Siridar-governership of all the other worlds of the Sundiata domain. The new Viscount Sundiata set up on the least inhospitable world in Al Shira, Puana. During the 'Crisis of the Sixth Millennium', when Puana was made uninhabitable and the Sundiata were nearly forced into exile while supporting the claim of Emperor Murad IV. In return, once enthroned, Murad IV returned their dignity to that of Count and paid the Spacing Guild to open up a new, uninhabited but life-supporting world to the Sundiata. The Sundiata named this world 'Zabulon' after their patron saint. They spent the next several centuries settling this world. These centuries of hardship shaped the character of the house. The Orange Catholic faith, always strong among the Sundiata, now became central for holding their people together during the trial to follow. The Orange Catholic Patriarch became second only to the Count for influence within the House and the frontier warriors formed during the settlement, the Templar-Ghazi, became one of the most well-regarded of the various House armies of the Landsraad, often being called upon by the Landsraad to suppress renegade Houses or even by the Emperor himself in situations where there were no Sardaukar convenient or where the Golden Lion Throne would have to stay out of it directly for political reasons. The Templar-Ghazi would have been among the first wave of House Armies deployed during the Battle of Arrakis had the Landsraad forces been called upon. It is hardly surprising that when the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV stepped down in favor of his daughter Irulan and her Consort-Regent Paul Atreides, called Muad'Dib by the fremen, and launched his Jihad, the Sundiata resisted, as much as because they refused his religion as any loyalty to the Corrino. The Sundiata became on of the leading Houses in the Holy Alliance, Zabulon a mighty fortress. It took the whole of the 4th Legion of the Fedaykin under Bashar Sayyid to finally bring them down. Zabulon was one of the worlds razed utterly and the Count Arthur Keita Sundiata was slain in the bombardment. A few scattered refugees escaped with Count Arthur's only surviving child, the 12 year old na-Countess Fulani Keita Sundiata, under the leadership of House Warmaster Rharhabe Thembu to join with the other resisting Houses which were gathering at "Unbeaten Sembou" Description Mali Empire Category:Great House Category:Zabulon Category:Sundiata Category:Count